I have a 95 SC2. When the brakes are depressed there is a clicking sound and the headlights give a flicker. Any idea what to do?

 

I guess that wouldn't have anything to do with the brake light switch and the brake lights coming on causing a POWER drain. Would it have something to do with WATER under a Muscatine bridge

 

I guess I should mention that it isn't a cv joint or pad problem. The sound is coming from under the dash. It sounds like a relay checking up. I can't get under there while it's moving although my girlfriend is pretty good at getting her head under the steering wheel.

 

You're lucky to have such a girlfriend! As far as the clicking goes, it may be your headlight relay? I don't see the correlation between the brakes and the relay, but I'm not a mechanic. If you have a way to get your hands on a factory service manual or even a Haynes manual, maybe you could check the wiring schematics and trace a connection between the brake light switch and a relay. Other than that, I don't know what to tell you. I'm pretty much just an old country dumbass.

 

Does the clicking sound like something mechanical or could it be an electrical spark? Do you have to be moving for this to occur and does it only occur when the headlights are on, i.e at night?

If the clicking occurs anytime the brakes are applied, such as when sitting in the driveway, has anyone observed the brake lights while this happens both with the headlights on and off?

Here is my recommended test procedure.

apply the brakes with engine on, headlights on, vehicle not moving
no clicking - check all ground points under the dash and under the hood. check for frayed wire bundles around the steering column.

clicking -
turn off headlights
no clicking - check for frayed wire bundles

clicking -
check brake lights for flickering
flickering - check for frayed bundles or replace brake light switch.

no flickering -
turn on head lights, do taillights go out as brake pedal is depressed?
yes - bad ground at tail lights

no - brake light switch probably defective.

check for frayed wire bundles at night by looking for flashes of light under the dash when the brake pedal is depressed.

 

Does your car come equipped with anti-lock brakes?

 

i hear this clicking on both my 95 and 97 SC2s (which each have over 225J on them) when the pedal gets down lower in its travel.

I've been told by a saturn tech many a year back that the noise was due to a plastic piece in the linkage beginning to wear. He told me this was not dangerous and that the car would be long dead before the piece wears out and financially it makes no sense to change it.

As for brake lights, headlight dimming, etc

1) the brake lights come on as soon as you touch the brake pedal so I'm not sure how the brake light switch would come into play
2) My headlights always dim for a brief moment when I hit the brakes at night,

Your car is 18 years old. So is mine. Nothing's perfect.

The only caution would be to address excessive brake pedal travel (compared to mormal)

 

would it be meaningful to check

would it be meaningful to check--the brake light switch and the brake lights

would it be meaningful to check

 

Derf, I tend to agree. I'm not really going to get excited about it as the brakes operate normally. It's just an annoyance I guess and I was wondering if there might be a quick fix for it.

thanks to all.

 

Don --

As a quick check, pull your ABS fuse and see if the sound stops. I'm thinking that one of the wheel sensors has gone bad, and is sending bogus information to the ABS module.